Montgomery County Kitchen: Honey Citrus Chicken Thighs

Editor's note: Montgomery County Kitchen is a weekly series that features food and recipes from Montgomery County residents. To be featured, send your recipe, along with photos, background information and tips to jeffrey.perkins@patch.com.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX — Don't be afraid of chicken thighs!

The dark meat gets a bad rap for being unhealthy by proponents of cooking with chicken breasts. Don't get me wrong. Chicken breasts are great and often the better choice for whatever you're cooking. And yes, they have a lower caloric and fat content than thighs.

In a 3.5-ounce serving of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, there are 176 calories and 8.5 grams of fat, according to USDA FoodData Central. For the same amount of chicken breast, there are 157 calories and 3.2 grams of fat. The difference in fat content is evident but only one gram of the additional fat is the undesired saturated fat (2.3 grams for thighs and 1 gram for breasts). Both are excellent sources of protein with thighs having 25 grams and breasts having 32 grams.

It's a small nutritional price to pay for the benefits of cooking with chicken thighs.

Thighs are juicier and more tender, which makes them more forgiving to cook with. It's hard to overcook them to the point where they dry out.

One recipe I like to use them for is a honey citrus chicken from The Washington Post. It's been a regular dish in my house for over a year now. It's simple, quick and the flavors work together really well. The acidic lemons and orange juice give the sauce a tart flavor, but the honey mellows it out a little bit and provides a hint of sweetness. The sautéed red onions round out the sauce that pairs excellently with the juicy chicken thighs.

Pair it with potatoes and a salad, and you've got an easy, tasty, healthy meal.

Here is the full recipe for honey citrus chicken thighs, but before you go, here's a tip. I normally cook for two, so I cut this recipe in half. However, I only cut the chicken. I like this recipe with more sauce than it creates, so if you're not cutting the chicken, it might be good to double the sauce.